Maison Ikkoku

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Japanese: めぞん一刻

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 15

Chapters: 162

Status: Finished

Published: Oct 14, 1980 to Apr 6, 1987

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Theme: Adult Cast

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Big Comic Spirits

Authors: Takahashi, Rumiko (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.14¹ (scored by 6,510 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #543²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1055

Members: 20,647

Favorites: 815

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8.14

Ranked #543Popularity #1055Members 20,647

MangaBig Comic SpiritsTakahashi, Rumiko (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /15

Chapters: /162

Maison Ikkoku Collector's Edition

Vol. 1
$16.99

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Synopsis

In the town of Tokeizaka stands the old, worn-down boarding house known as Maison Ikkoku. For the last few years, the building has been home to a rambunctious group of tenants, including 20-year-old college applicant Yusaku Godai, its most recent resident. Recently, however, Yusaku has grown impatient with the noisy shenanigans interrupting his studies and has decided to move out. However, as he is preparing to leave, a beautiful woman named Kyoko Otonashi introduces herself as the new property manager. Falling in love with her at first sight, Yusaku changes his mind and decides to stay to court Kyoko instead.

Though he initially believes he is making progress with Kyoko, Yusaku soon discovers that she is a widow still mourning the loss of her late husband. Despite her growing feelings for Yusaku, Kyoko states that she has no intentions to remarry or even date, as she still loves her late husband. Empathizing with her, Yusaku seeks to free Kyoko from her sadness with the help of the other inhabitants of Maison Ikkoku—all in the hope that she will one day see him as more than just another tenant of the building.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Maison Ikkoku was published in English by VIZ Media from October 24, 2003, to February 14, 2006. The publisher later rereleased the series as 10 collector's edition volumes. It was also released in Spanish by Glénat España from May 2004 to January 2013; and in France by Tonkam Edition from January 2001 to January 2003.

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Characters

Otonashi, Kyouko

Main

Godai, Yuusaku

Main

Yotsuya

Main

Roppongi, Akemi

Main

Ichinose, Hanae

Main

Ichinose, Kentarou

Main

Mitaka, Shun

Supporting

Yagami, Ibuki

Supporting

Nanao, Kozue

Supporting

Souichirou

Supporting

Reviews

Mar 24, 2010

Archaeon

Recommended

"What we've got here is... failure to communicate." - Cool Hand Luke

Misunderstandings are brought about by a failure to convey what one truly wants to say. In many cases the problems caused are nothing more than trivialities, but in certain situations a misunderstanding can have damaging consequences. Relationships can end, families can turn against each other, friends can become enemies, misunderstandings can even spark wars.

Maison Ikkoku is probably one of the most well known and influential romantic comedies in the history of manga and anime. Created in 1980 by the reknowned Takahashi Rumiko, the manga was serialised in "Big Comic Spirits" for its entire ... 7 year run. The story was adapted into a 96 episode anime in 1986, and also spawned a movie, three OVAs, and a music special.

The tale begins with Godai Yusaku, a student who is attempting to leave the the boarding house known as Maison Ikkoku as he feels that the residents there are hindering his studies and causing him to fail his exams. He changes his mind however, when a beautiful woman, Otonashi Kyoko, appears and tells everyone that she is the new manager.

Now, many people consider the story in Maison Ikkoku to be a straightforward romantic comedy with indecisive lead characters, and to be honest, this is a perfectly reasonable and logical conclusion - on the surface. What really struck me about this series though, wasn't actually the romance or the comedy, both of which were pretty decent. No, what really stood out for me was the fact that the main concept seemed to be about misunderstandings, in particular how they can force people to behave in certain ways over time (more on this in a bit).

While the majority of the story flows pretty well, one of the issues that some people have with Maison Ikkoku is that there is a large section in the middle of the series where it seems as though nothing in particular happens. While I can understand that perspective, I actually thought this was a rather clever way of highlighting how time can pass with nothing actually happening. Those of you who are familiar with Takahashi Rumiko's other works will know that she is an author who doesn't approach a story in a typical manner, and that her tales aren't often straightforward affairs.

That said, even I felt that the middle section of the series dragged on a bit too long, however I didn't really get bored of reading the series as the comedy made up for some of the shortfalls.

As far as the artwork goes the series shows its age in two main areas - the drawing style and the character design. This is particularly noticeable at the beginning of the series and may put some people off reading the series altogether. However, while the style may be typical Takahashi Rumiko, the series is particularly indicative of how her she developed during the course of the manga, and the latter half of the series is more reminiscent of much of her later work.

Even though the series does have some flaws with the artwork, some of the visual gags were truly inspired and the characters are a lot more expressive and emotive than one might expect from a series this old.

One of the biggest gripes people have with Maison Ikkoku is the characters. I've heard it mentioned that if both lead characters were less indecisive then the series could have been completed in half the time, and even I have to agree with that statement. However, I would have to add that certain ways of thinking, certain behaviours, become habitual in a very short space of time. Kyoko's inability to choose between Godai Yusakui and Mitaka Shun is one example of how the characters become accustomed to a certain situation - something that can happen in real life as well. The middle section of the series is the area where these habits are most prominent, and it's actually rather nice to see a mangaka acknowledge that any type of relationship can become stale when one is simply "going through the motions".

One thing I will add is that while both character display a clear inability to make a decision, Takahashi has made the effort to justify their indecisiveness to a degree.

As far as development goes, much of it occurs on the part of Yusaku and Kyoko, however a number of other characters are also given some depth over the course of the series, and while the amount may vary from one character to the next, the series is surprising in its ambition to give every character a moment in the spotlight.

In terms of enjoyment, Maison Ikkoku is one of those stories that you can love and hate at the same time. The romance and comedy are well handled, however the numerous misunderstandings that lead compound Yusaku and Kyoko's indecisiveness can become annoying for some people, and I will admit that the series tested even my patience on a couple of occasions.

That said, if you can work through the flaws in the plot, the poor artwork at the beginning, the numerous misunderstandings, etc, then what is left is a surprisingly charming series with some unique characters. One thing that many people may find though, is how similar Maison Ikkoku is to later romantic comedies, but given that many took inspiration/borrowed/stole outright from this series, it's understandable that there would be more than a passing resemblance.

Still, they do say plagiarism is the first form of flattery :P

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Aug 23, 2025

Tokyo-Brain

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (48/162 eps)

Although it's slightly more engaging than other similar works, this manga is still your typical japanese slice-of-life / romantic comedy in a (pseudo) student residence:

You can expect endless misunderstandings, a plot that drags on for many volumes with little to no real development in the main couple’s relationship (at some point you will feel like the manga just keep repeating similar situations), and an extremely cowardly male protagonist (in this case he goes as far as to start dating another girl he's not even interested in because he can't say no...).

Since this manga is quite old, in addition to all the above there are also ...

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Dec 23, 2017

Yautja

Not Recommended

While not the worst manga I have ever read, Maison Ikkoku is certainly the manga I hate most. A seemingly unthinkable opinion given the reviews and recommendations that seem to drip of this work in buckets worth. Any and all of those reviews seem to take what I view as the reasons that this manga is a god awful piece of shit as reasons that it is amazing and wonderful, or give the manga a great rating while acknowledging how glaring these issues are. I'll try to cover them, and I can on some of them understand it is simple a difference of taste, but ...

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Poll: Maison Ikkoku Chapter 7 Discussion Ston3_FreeN7 - Nov 20, 2011	1 replies	by walla »» Jun 29, 2025 10:55 PM
Poll: Maison Ikkoku Chapter 81 Discussion jonnjonzz - Feb 23, 2023	1 replies	by samsince04 »» Dec 27, 2023 9:59 AM
Poll: Maison Ikkoku Chapter 70 Discussion jonnjonzz - Feb 20, 2023	1 replies	by samsince04 »» Dec 18, 2023 11:02 AM
Poll: Maison Ikkoku Chapter 48 Discussion samsince04 - Nov 17, 2023	0 replies	by samsince04 »» Nov 17, 2023 10:40 AM
Poll: Maison Ikkoku Chapter 47 Discussion samsince04 - Nov 17, 2023	0 replies	by samsince04 »» Nov 17, 2023 10:34 AM

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